Immortal Justice
by HufflePuffGal223
Summary: Abira Lee has many credentials; in the past, she has served as the Lieutenant General in the United States Army (as a woman, nonetheless), and also served alongside angels of God for many years. However, when a series of fatal and mysterious bites begin occurring around the New Orleans area, she must make an ally out of a predatory enemy, and aid in stopping a deadly tide of evil.
1. Prologue

Prologue: [Baghdad, Iraq]

[23rd January, 1991]

[Operation Desert Storm]

The Iraqi desert was a mere silhouette when compared to the backdrop of the slowly wakening sky, and the desert sun was beginning to peer, almost hesitantly, over the eastern horizon. Small towns just a few minutes away were beginning to develop a steady hum of people, but perhaps the more alarming part was the metallic roar that caused even the sands to shudder. A Merlin HC3 zipped overhead at a low altitude, heading towards a row of blinding white lights over in the distance, and on its tail was painted the American flag. The attack helicopter moved quickly, but with much grace, as though it were searching for something or someone; the former was probably more likely. As it approached the white lights- which turned out to be an Army base- the landing gear dropped down, and the aircraft began to lower onto a black pad with a large white h on the middle. About 4 workers waved their two glow sticks to aid the aircraft in lowering safely, before the engine cut off, and two figures-the male pilot and a female- stepped out.

"General Lee!" a man dressed in an officer's outfit greeted the female in a glad tone. "Sorry about the short notice about flying up here from Kuwait, but we needed you here as fast as possible. Nice flight coming up here?"

The female was about 5'4" with dark, wavy black hair and was oddly broad-shouldered and solidly built, and her dark blue eyes shone in the blaring lights. Saluting and grinning, she replied, "Bit too much sand for my taste, if you had to ask, but other than that everything went fine."

"Good to hear. Follow me, and I will take you to Colonel Higgens. He has a plan he wants you to overlook before he sends it off." With that, he turned and headed to a smaller looking, tan colored building located in the center of camp. A few guards escorted them to the building, and once they entered, the door shut tightly behind them. The building on the inside was dimly lit, and on either side of the corridor leading to the main room were several guards, standing at attention. As General Lee passed one particular guard on the way to the main room, she noticed that he possessed a small cut on the outer part of his left hand that was still bleeding lightly; she began to feel odd, and she ducked her head to prevent anyone from seeing her face, with her eyes now reddish and her teeth possessing a set of what could only be described as fangs. When the feeling passed, she raised her head up again and followed the officer into a large conference room, complete with a large rectangular table and a map on the wall behind it. In the head chair sat a tall man with dark blond hair and light hazel eyes. When the officer knocked on the door, the man looked up, confused at first, then he grinned. "General Lee! How incredibly great of you to be here!" He stuck his hand out. "I'm Colonel Higgens."

The General smiled warmly and shook his hand. "Pleasure to meet you, Colonel. I understand that you have a plan that needs overlooking?"

"I do indeed." Turning to the officer who had been with them, he asked, "Would you mind if I had a private conversation with the Lieutenant General, Captain Alexander?"

The Captain nodded, and turned and walked out of the room. Once the door had been closed, Colonel Higgens turned to the General and stated, in a low and serious tone, "Balthazar sent me here to see how you were, Abira."

"I've been doing fine, Leniel," Abira replied, also in a low tone. "I have the reports on the last movements of the demon troops; would you like them?"

Leniel nodded, and Abira handed him a thick set of manila folders. Smiling, Leniel nodded to her. "When does your deployment end?"

"Only in a week or so. They send me back to Atlanta on Wednesday." She looked at him curiously. "Why?"

"Balthazar and his dispatchment have been receiving reports of various killings in New Orleans. Some have been speculating that it was demons, but the nature of the killings- large, infected wound on the side of the neck, blood drained- it's all very odd."

Abira nodded, but now she felt more on edge.

"Have you been controlling your cravings?"

"Yes. I still get flare ups now and then, but I haven't harmed any single person." She paused. "And I think I know of what is behind these killings. Give me some time; this investigation is gonna be a while."


	2. Chapter 1: The Perfect Informant?

Chapter 1: The Perfect Informant?

[New Orleans, Louisiana, USA]

[15th April, 2016]

The streets of New Orleans were packed to the brim, looking to me like a massive swarm of differently colored ants from my perspective on top of the mansion in which I lived. To be honest, New Orleans is an odd place; it has a rich and interesting history, which I love, but it also possesses a long history with supernatural elements, especially in the realm of voodoo and other forms of black magic. Thankfully, I try to stay far away from the witches that are rumored to live near the old cemeteries, floating around the massive tombs like dark phantoms flitting at the edge of the vision of tourists and native folk alike; in fact, I'm commanded to stay far away from them, as I operate under their very enemy, God. Frequently, the angels with whom I work send me out as a sort of spy in order to better understand their movements and any planned attacks on humans; while they do know that I am immortal, black magic and voodoo can also be used to harm me, and in many cases, I have seen fellow vampires become gravely injured by more powerful witches. At least, this was the norm before the angels enacted strict martial law on the cemetery. Believe me, the witches were _not_ happy about that, and just three nights before there was a fierce fight between a dispatchment of power angels (higher ranking angels) and a rather small yet vicious group of younger witches.

Even worse, the same killings the angels were looking at in 1991- the ones with the infected bite on the side of the neck and the body being drained of all blood- were becoming more frequent. However, since they were so busy keeping the witches in line and from summoning in demons, they asked Balthazar to send me out to go and investigate the killings. It took a lot of research and spying, but today, I found out the cause.

"Interesting view, isn't it?" a voice said from beside me, causing me to be startled and move about five feet over on the balcony. Balthazar, the angel with whom I operate, was standing beside me, and boy, is he quite the figure! He stands at about 6'4" and is built like a Mack truck, but he has a kind and funny air about him, mixed with seriousness and fierce loyalty to his Commander.

I chuckled. "I can't deny that. New Orleans is...odd, at best."

He nodded. "That is true. Anyhow, what did you want to talk about?"

Taking a deep breath, I said, "I know the source of these killings. It took probably a few years' worth of research, but I came to find that these bites came from a hybrid."

Balthazar's eyebrows raised. "Hybrids, as in the half-vampire, half-werewolf creatures?""

"Yes. Apparently, they are very rare, and there are only two known in existence: a male named Niklaus Mikaelson, and a female by the name of Hayley Marshall."

"How did you find all of this?"

"Town records and books, mostly. Apparently, Niklaus and his family moved here to North America around the late 900s. Or so my informants tell me."

Balthazar thought about this for a moment. I returned my focus to the streets, which still flowed in a haphazard motion, with people going in all kinds of directions.

"And I'm guessing that the missions in which I sent you to go and essentially spy on the Mikaelsons were successful in turning up some of this information?"

I nodded. "Definitely. I had the chance to "befriend" Niklaus and Elijah, and they told me the whole spiel of how they came here. Niklaus is...neurotic and belligerent, if I had to be completely honest. Elijah seems to be an amiable fellow, but he does seem to be a bit reserved." I paused for a moment. "They mentioned a friend across the river, heading away from the French Quarter. Marcel, I think his name was. To be honest though, I don't believe that these bites were made by Niklaus. His bite pattern is completely different"

"Hmm."

Balthazar went silent again for a few moments, his brows creased in thought. "Do you think Marcel might be a good source to start this investigation?"

"Well, he has purportedly spent an incredibly long amount of time with Nik, but whether he has an in-depth knowledge of hybrids I don't know."

"Do any of the other family members besides Niklaus and Elijah know in-depth of Nik's hybrid nature?"

I paused, and I could feel my mind begin to race. "Well, there is their mother, Esther; she, however, is one of the witches under martial law set by High Command. Rebekah is the sister, but she has been in Arkansas for some time, so she's out. Finn's the eldest brother, but I don't know his whereabouts. Finally, there's the youngest, Kol, but he and Nik have been apart for some time. And then there is the Mikaelson patriarch-Mikael." I shuddered.

He shot me an odd look. "What's the matter?"

"I've heard terrible things about Mikael. Niklaus tells me that he was abused by him for many years when they were still human. He has a terrible personality too- very obsessive and angry, almost all the time; combine that with his intelligence and ferocity-he sounds close to a demon."

Balthazar paused. Sighing, he asked, "Would _he_ be a good source for this investigation?"

"Undoubtedly, I'm afraid."

"You know I wouldn't put you to do this alone, Abira."

"But I didn't s-"

"Didn't have to. Fear can be a very palpable emotion, even when it is not expressed verbally. That, and God has given me the slight ability to read minds, in case you forgot." He grinned, which calmed me down greatly.

"It's just the fact that he literally drinks the blood of vampires. And me? I'm practically a five star meal to this guy."

"Tell you what- I will go with you. Once we nail down a location on where he is-he is alive, correct?

"Yeah, Elijah told me he was brought back by a witch not too long ago."

"Excellent. Once his location is determined- something I will ask some of those under my command- we will go and find him ."

He looked up at the darkening sky. "It's late, my dear. Why not go back inside and try to prepare for tomorrow?"

His eyes flashed for a second. "Ah, that's right! Your Trans-Am needs its rear tire replaced again. That last chase flattened it."

I nodded. "Leave it to me."

I rotated the new wheel once more, to make sure I had screwed everything in on my 1977 Trans-Am (like the one from _Smokey and the Bandit_ ) . When no nuts and bolts decided to become projectiles in my face, I stood up, and placed the wrench back on its hanger on the tool wall, having to use a chair in the process because of shortness. Once I hopped back down, I turned and examined my car again. The black paint gleamed nicely under the bright fluorescent lights, as it probably had about enough dirt to make an entirely new continent and needed a wash-badly. Opening the door, I sat in the car for a few minutes and started the engine, making sure that everything was still intact. The engine purred nicely, reverberating off the white walls of the garage. Now just one more thing to check.

Cutting the engine, I stepped out of the vehicle and popped open the trunk. Inside was a vast array of military-grade guns, rocket launchers, a grenade launcher, knives, and grenades and explosives of all kinds. Don't be freaked out; I do have a license to carry all of these, so I am not toting illegal weapons. They are for my occupation: a demon hunter. I have now been utilizing my military experience to hunt down the vilest creatures in existence, and so far I have held out against many troops and smaller groups of demons. Nodding, I closed the trunk, and proceeded to climb upstairs, all the way to my bedroom, where I sat on the edge of my bed and contemplated what tomorrow was going to be like. Even though Balthazar would be coming with me, the thought of having to face an equally old (1,000 year old) vampire- and an Original vampire nonetheless. I just hope I don't turn into a five-star meal.

God help me.


	3. Chapter 2: The Imprisoning Rescue

Chapter 2: The Imprisoning Rescue

The morning dawned, bright and cheerful, but inside me cumulonimbus clouds bigger than the Empire State Building fogged my thinking as I remembered what lay ahead. Balthazar had not come back yet from nailing down Mikael's location, and the anticipation was killing me. Well, they do always say that anticipation is worse than the real thing; then again, no one really anticipates an ancient vampire trying to suck their blood. At least, no one that I know of.

I sat on one of the leather chairs located in the main living area with a cup of coffee in my hand, while my other hand was placed near my temple. My heart, however, was pounding in my chest, and practically brushed against one of the bones of my ribcage it was thumping so hard, while my brain seemed to be setting up more scenarios than there are good ideas in the US Congress; each scenario was scarier and darker as they progressed, and thankfully screeched to a halt when my phone buzzed. Balthazar's name was on the screen, and almost instantly my stomach did a flip-flop as I tapped the green button. "Hello?"

"Abira! Good news- we found where Mikael is located. But you better get here quickly- Klaus and a bunch of his gang are onto him. I'll text the location. See you here!"

Taking a deep breath, I stood and hastily made my way down to the garage, where I slid into my car, started the engine, and (after closing the door and buckling myself) tore out of the garage like a bat out of Hell.

The address took me to what looked like an abandoned warehouse, and as I located Balthazar, I noticed that there was a dark greenish-black old 1969 Mustang already there. Odd. Wonder who drove that here?

Balthazar was standing outside the warehouse, frantically waving me down as I stopped and cut the engine. "They have him cornered- Klaus, Marcel, Hayley, a young witch, and a blonde girl. You better get in there fast."

"I'll need to distract the group to get Mikael out of there. I have an idea." Popping the trunk, I grabbed a gas mask, a canister of tear gas, and a concussion grenade. With that, I strapped on my gas mask and turned into the warehouse and quietly made my way to the room just beside the room where Mikael and the others were.

I heard a loud crash and a grunt of pain, before feet scuttered around. I heard Klaus's voice say, "It's over, Mikael. You're outnumbered."

I peered around the corner of the room I was in, and saw Klaus and the others standing apart from a rather tall man with a strong build.

"Are you going to beg for your miserable life?" Klaus continued.

 _No, because I'm about to take him out of your grasp, childish fleabag._

Before Mikael could respond, I pulled the pin on the concussion grenade and threw it into the room, where I saw it clatter at Klaus's feet before it let out a blinding flash of light and a high-pitched noise (thankfully, my gas mask is modified to withstand this-just so you know). Everyone in the room let out grunts of pain and confusion, and with that I pulled the pin on the tear gas and threw it in. Now I heard gagging and coughing from the next room. I rushed in, pulled Mikael by the arm, and took him outside to my car, where Balthazar waited.

"What has happened?" I heard Mikael hiss in a raspy voice. He coughed a couple of times and rubbed his eyes. "My eyes-"

Balthazar reached up and touched two fingers to his forehead, instantly healing him. Blinking, Mikael looked around for a while in confusion before his eyes rested on me. Their icy blue retinas narrowed slightly before he asked, "Who are you?" in a growling tone.

"I'm the person who just saved your rear end," I replied bluntly.

" I _don't_ need _saving_!" he spat acidly. "I could have handled them easily!"

"Really? With one of them holding a wood stake- which I assume can kill you, judging by the way the blonde girl held it?" Balthazar replied icily. "Be glad that we came in and intervened at all!"

Mikael rounded on Balthazar quickly. "And who are _you_?"

"That is classified for now. You are now under my custody. Let's get out of here before the tear gas and concussion grenade effects wear off." Balthazar looked at me. "I'll take him back. Meet you at the house." With that, he took Mikael's arm, and disappeared without a trace. Scanning to make sure that nobody saw me, I got in my car and sped back home.

What a butthole.

A few power angels and one of Balthazar's superiors were also at the mansion when I arrived about half an hour later. They were talking with Balthazar in the living area, while the power angels had Mikael surrounded on every side as he sat on one of the chairs, and it looked as though they had placed some sort of cuffs over his hands. He did not look happy at all, and faintly I could see him struggling against his restraints, but once he decided they were stronger than he anticipated, he rested his hands on his legs.

"Ah, hello, Abira," Balthazar's superior greeted me with a warm smile. "Well done getting Mikael out of there."

I gave a respectful nod. "Thank you, sir. Though I did rescue an ungrateful subject," I said, casting a glare over at Mikael, "he will be an invaluable source for this investigation."

"Mikael has been on our radar for quite some time now, especially now that he has fed from Camille- that was the blonde woman in the warehouse. For now, the power angels will guard him and put him down if necessary. Only at your command, Balthazar, will Mikael be free from his restraints."

"So you rescued me just to imprison me?! I'd have rather died in that warehouse with dignity than be imprisoned by you _fools_!"

" _SILENCE!_ " Balthazar's superior shouted, holding out his palm toward Mikael. Immediately Mikael shut his trap and sat back down. His icy eyes were narrowed in my direction. While his stare was scary, I returned the look and stared back at him, until his attention shifted back to the conversation.

"Whatever information you get out of him, be sure it gets to me as soon as possible. Those witches are giving us a headache back in the graveyard, but so far martial law has prevented them from summoning in any demons. Balthazar, I leave you in charge here. Keep up the good work."

Once he had vanished, Balthazar looked over at Mikael and the power angels. "You can release the shackles on him- I highly doubt that he will try and make a run for it. If he tries, he will be whooshed down to Hell faster than he can blink." One of the guards undid the shackles from Mikael's hands, which Mikael rubbed. "So you must be Balthazar."

"Yes."

Mikael's icy eyes looked over at me. "And you're Abira?"

"Abira Lee," I replied in a flat tone. "Pleasure."

His mouth straightened. "Why exactly am I needed here? What information is needed?"

Sighing, I went over and sat across from him, looking directly into his face. "We have been receiving reports of various bites on humans since 1991. The bites are usually infected and on the side of the neck, but the bodies are always drained of blood. What we need from you is information regarding details of Klaus's hybrid nature so that we can figure out whether it is him or not."

He scoffed. "And why would I ever comply with you?"

"Maybe it's a) the fact that you can be executed within a second of noncompliance, or b), you owe me this after saving you from what could have been certain death, and we will keep you alive and away from Klaus and his crew," I snapped. "Choose wisely."

He glared at me once more, but I saw him cast a nervous glance at the guards stationed around him. "Very well then," he growled. "I'll help you bring Niklaus to the stand. If there was ever a being I hated more, it's him."

 _You and me both, pal. You and me both._

Balthazar coughed slightly, drawing both of our attentions back to him. "Mikael, I best show you where you will be staying. There will be guards stationed at your door to ensure both your security- not that you really need it, given your reputation, nasty as it is- and your incarceration." He looked over at me. "You come too, my dear."

Like a large and odd flock of sheep, Balthazar, me, Mikael, and the power angel guards hiked up the large staircase to the second floor, where my bedroom and Balthazar's study reside. To the left of my room is an unoccupied guest room that has remained empty for quite some time; in fact, I really cannot remember the last time the room was inhabited. Anyway, we hiked up to this room, allowing Balthazar to open the door. The room was actually large and spacious; the large circular window faced the distant city skyline and the banks of the Mississippi, with the bright sunlight reflecting off of the water. On the wall closest to the outer hallway was a massive king-sized bed decorated in a dark scarlet duvet, and to the left of the bed was a small glass nightstand with a fairly large lamp. Two dark oak doors were situated in the eastern wall, leading into a nicely sized closet. The walls were painted in a darker blue, and the floor was covered with a cream-colored, exceedingly soft carpet. Glancing up at Mikael, I noticed that even he was impressed at his accommodations.

"This room should suit you comfortably. My study is just down the hall, and Abira's bedroom is just next to yours," Balthazar declared. He turned to the power angel guards, and asked in a hushed whisper (that, thanks to my vampire hearing, I could still make out), "Would two of you mind guarding Abira's bedroom, especially at night? I don't want to take chances with an Original vampire sucking her blood out." Two of the guards gave almost imperceptible nods.

Clearing my throat, I turned to Balthazar and said, "I will be going down to the garage. I want to do a quick scan of the other car down there- last I heard, the engine was rattling quite a bit." He nodded, and I turned, purposefully shoved Mikael out of the way, and headed down the stairs once more to the garage. I could feel Mikael glaring at the back of my head, and I heard the footsteps of the guards as they followed me down. Certainly, this was going to be interesting.


	4. Chapter 3: Stroke of Righteousness

Chapter 3: Stroke of Righteousness

Parked next to my Trans-Am is a 1970 Dodge Charger, painted just like the General Lee from _Dukes of Hazzard._ It's a good and trustworthy car, but there is a bit of a twist to it. When Balthazar and I had first been fixing this thing not too long after we had gotten it, Balthazar had accidentally cut his hand on an engine component, causing a little bit of his blood to fall into the engine. Well, angel's blood must be the weirdest substance ever in existence, because when Balthazar and I drove it around the next day, I had asked a question out loud, when, much to my and Balthazar's astonishment, that dang car responded. As in, it answered the question. Odd, I know, but it happened, so that's that.

I opened the driver door and slid into the driver seat. My head dropped onto the steering wheel, and I let out a sigh.

"Rough day?" came the voice of the vehicle. At first, it startled me a good bit, but I relaxed as I replied, "Rough with a capital R."

"And why would that be, darlin'?"

"Mikael Mikaelson is the problem. He's such an-" (let's just say I called him a seven-letter word starting with an a).

"Quite the salty language you're using there."

I blew a heavy breath. "Sorry. It's just that he is."

"Well, at least your swearing problem has died down quite a bit. Balthazar was worried that it would follow you all these years."

"The good thing is, I haven't added any more salt to my vocabulary." I grinned. "Anywho, go ahead and pop the hood. I wanna check to see if that rattling noise can be solved."

With that, the orange hood popped open and I stepped out of the vehicle to take a look. One of the plugs had a loose head on it, which was likely the source of the rattling noise. "Looks like one of the heads of the plugs is loose, Lee. I'll have to replace this one."

"And this is the fifth time that that plug in particular has popped loose this month," Lee griped. "Go ahead and remove it, for all I care."

"I would, but this plug is too valuable. Can't risk it." I went over to the tool wall and grabbed a wrench from the rack, putting it to the loose head and twisting it off.

Silence pressed on around us, and I could hear the wind whistling through the weeping willows planted just outside the mansion, which helped to soothe my anger and focus on the task at hand. After about a half hour, I stood back, wiping my hand, now coated with oil, on an old rag and feeling generally pleased at fixing the problem. "Alright, Lee, I removed the loose plug- actually, loose plug _s._ You should be good. Start 'er up!"

Lee's engine purred to life, and I carefully tuned my vampire hearing to make sure there was no rattling. To my delight, all I could hear was the purr of the engine. "Excellent! Well, you can cut it off. I am going to go back inside and shower off. Wish me luck with that stubborn bull inside."

"May God go with you, Abira. May God go with you."

I stepped out of the shower a little while later, only to hear a car pull up in the drive and come to a complete stop. Huh. I thought no one was coming today. With the towel still wrapped around my head, I opened the door to my room and went down the massive stairs, stopping abruptly when I saw a familiar bleach blonde female walk in the double doors.

"Haniel!" I called down, gleefully, causing the woman to look up, wide eyed. She relaxed when she saw me. "Abira, my dear, it is so good to see you after all these years!"

I rushed down the steps and hugged her tightly. Upon pulling apart, I asked, "So how were those missions in Moscow and Tehran? I heard you were struggling against some stronger demonic forces in Moscow."

"Good grief, there had to have been about 20 different divisions in Moscow, especially around Red Square and even as far as Siberia. Apparently the demons there still enjoyed the atheistic atmosphere, so my garrison and I were shipped out to go and put them down. Tehran went a little smoother- just some more minor level demons there, but there were still a large amount of forces there." She sighed. "But, that aside, how is the bite investigation going? I remember a couple of my lieutenants were telling me about it back in '91. Once my deployments ended I decided I would come and help."

"Oh boy, where to begin. Well, we do have a good informant, but he is more stubborn than a bull and meaner than a devil. Mikael Mikaelson, that's who we have."

"Mikaelson? Good grief, the amount of times I have heard that name whispered amongst some of my superiors. Troublemakers, they say. Apparently Elijah has had multiple encounters with some of my superiors and with some of my captains. Quite the diplomat, but they detected he has a dark red violent streak running through his soul. And the one they call Niklaus- the hybrid everyone thinks is biting the people around here- I have encountered and actually fought when he was attacking tourists here back in 1919 and 1921. His violence is much greater than even Mikael's. But boy, did my forces and I give him a nice wallop."

"How do you know his violence is greater than Mikael's? Mikael seems like the kind of person terrorists are afraid of. Even the vampires around here are terrified of him, and Niklaus always seems afraid when he talks about him."

"Well, Mikael has been the subject of a few of my missions- mainly to keep an eye on him and give him a whack upside the head if he tried to harm any humans. When he burned down the opera house in 1919, my garrison and Michael's garrison went after him and trapped him near Bourbon Street. Oddly enough, he did not attack us as we expected- either he knew what we were or he just had no interest in attacking us. Anyway, we were able to open dialogue with him. Seemed to be very calm and intelligent, but not exactly a peaceful specimen, if I had to admit it. Michael was given an order to let him go, but had a couple of dominions keep track of his location."

"Wow."

The sound of footsteps came from behind me, and I turned to see Balthazar standing behind me. "Haniel!" he exclaimed joyously, rushing up and giving her a massive hug. She laughed a bit out of shock, then hugged him tightly as well. "Uuf! It's so good to see you again, Balthazar! We missed you over in Tehran."

"High Command has stationed me here for quite a while, mostly to help with this bite thing."

"How many bodies did you say were drained?"

"About 20. Thankfully, the number has stalled there."

It was then that one of the power angel guards came down and stopped in front of Balthazar, saluting for a quick second in acknowledgement of Haniel's presence before turning to Balthazar. "Mikael is demanding when he needs to give the information. He's been pacing for hours in his room, cursing practically everyone in this house- not that it surprises me."

"Bring him down to the basement conference room as soon as you can. Haniel, Abira, let's head down there."

The basement conference room is actually much larger than you may think; the walls of the room are painted in a light cream, with a dark hardwood floor underneath, covered by a light blue rug. Bright fluorescent lights hover in the ceiling above a large and wide wooden table flocked by cushy chairs. A television hangs on the wall behind the head chair.

Balthazar sat in the head chair, with me and Haniel flanking him on either side. We pored over the documents of the bites reported by various humans and angels alike, scanning and checking the nature of these bites before Mikael came in, a guard following close behind. He took a seat next to me, and I shot him a dirty side glance, which, of course, he returned with impunity. "About time I got out of that room," he muttered to me, shooting a glance at Balthazar. However, when his eyes rested on Haniel, they widened with shock and recognition. " _You."_ Haniel shot him a cold glance when she looked over at him.

"Managed to stay out of the radar, Mikael? Oh wait, you bit that human just recently, so you are still high on our list." She ended her sentence with an emphasis on the t. "Be glad you're still alive- Balthazar is one of the best warriors we have, and he would normally go straight for the kill on creatures like you."

"And High Command would be on my tail- don't forget that," Balthazar chuckled. "Right, let's stop with the passive aggressiveness and cut straight to business." Clicking the power button on the remote brought up the image of one of the bites. I would go into detail, but since there are likely audiences sensitive to that kind of stuff (and because I do not like going into detail on them myself), I will refrain from sharing the details.

"This was bite number 1, taken in June 1991. Young female of about 23 years of age. The body was found near the edge of the bayou, but no blood was left."

Mikael's eyes narrowed as he scanned the bite. The television then went on to another picture.

"Bite numbers 2 and 3, taken on Halloween 1992. This time found near the Mikaelson compound, but when some of our superiors went to investigate, the place had been abandoned for some time."

The television showed through all twenty bites, ending just recently in 2015. To me, there seemed to be no particular pattern related with the bites, but the majority of them were actually found near the graveyard and bayou. Even Mikael was baffled at this.

"So, Mikael, can you confirm or deny that these were indeed the bites of Niklaus? If so, he will be hunted down and prosecuted, and likely executed to protect the humans. If not, we will still maintain a watch on him, but he will not be executed."

Mikael peered at the photos on the television, carefully scrutinizing each and every one, sometimes twice. Finally, after about an hour of scanning them, he shook his head. "These are not the bites of Niklaus. Besides, based on what the little witch Davina has told me, Klaus did not come back to New Orleans until 2010, maybe even later."

Balthazar's brow furrowed in thought, and Haniel took to examining the physical photos. "Do you have any indication on whether there are more hybrids in New Orleans?"

"The only other one is Hayley, right?" I asked Mikael.

He glanced at me, then nodded. "She is the only other one there is in New Orleans, and she was here back in the 2000s after returning from Mystic Falls."

"Could these bites be her, then?" Haniel inquired.

"It is possible that they could be, but then again I have not had the opportunity to exactly converse with her- not necessarily on good terms, her and I."

There was a brief moment of thick silence that followed, all of us burrowed in thought. Finally, I spoke up.

"I could contact Elijah, and maybe even Marcel, to see if there have been any suspicious happenings that they have heard about. I could bring that information back here to you guys."

Balthazar and Haniel looked at one another and nodded. "That seems like a good idea," Balthazar remarked. "I could get into my contacts and look through anything my superiors might have regarding the supernatural happenings in the area."

"Wait- how do you have a contact with my son?" Mikael inquired, suspicion dripping from every word.

"That is my business and my business alone, bucko," I replied calmly. "We are kind of "friends" I guess you could say."

He narrowed his eyes at me, but said nothing.

"Then it's settled. Abira, you and Mikael will go and see Elijah and Marcel to get more info on any supernatural mess-" Balthazar began, but was cut off by Mikael.

"Wait- you want me to work with _her?"_ He spat the words as though they were poison to his tongue. "I'd rather stay or do it alone! I can handle both my son and that fool Marcel"

"Well, too bad. You two are vital to this investigation, and people are losing their lives, and families are grieving. You will cooperate, otherwise I will smite you here and now," Balthazar retaliated in the iciest tone I ever heard him use, and I could have sworn, for the breadth of a second, that his eyes started to glow blue before returning to their original color. Even my heart started racing a bit. His face was red, and he was leaning very close to Mikael in a very threatening manner.

Mikael grew considerably quiet, perhaps shocked both by the ferocity of the tone and the fact that there was another supernatural being in the room that was more powerful than he that could end his immortality in a split second. Finally, he nodded. "Very well, then."

Balthazar resumed his original position, the color on his face becoming the normal color again. "Go get some rest," he ordered, before looking over at me. His expression softened a small bit. "You will both need it."

I nodded, and stood up to leave, and I heard Mikael's footsteps coming through behind me, along with the footsteps of the guard. I paused and allowed him and the guard to pass, as I heard Haniel and Balthazar conversing in the conference room a good few feet behind me,

"Why High Command did not let me smite him the minute he found out that the bites were not those of Niklaus Mikaelson is unknown to me, Haniel."

"You do realize how key that man is, right?"

"No, I'm afraid not. Other than an 'expert' for this case, he has no further use by me "

"He is _the_ father of all vampires, Balthazar. Could you imagine how disastrous it would be if the demons grabbed hold of him? Someone as prideful as he would surely be ruthless and cruelest of the cruel. It's practically an arms race."

"Wasn't he that already before we intervened?"

"Perhaps, but I see a stroke of righteousness in him."

The rest of the conversation I did not hear, as they closed the door and their voices became muffled. I blinked and quietly muttered to myself, "Maybe there is something righteous in him. But I am not seeing it at all," before turning and walking back upstairs and going to bed.


	5. Chapter 4: Business at the Compound

Chapter 4: Business at the Loft and the Compound

I was up at the crack of dawn the next morning, having had a really bad nightmare during the dead of night. The alarm clock on my nightstand read 7:06 am, and a pale streak of sunlight was just beginning to peek over the horizon and paint its various oranges, lavenders, and reds across the busy waters of the Mississippi. I could hear the distant honking of cargo ships as they communicated in their own kind of language. Sighing, I laid back down and stared up at the ceiling for a good thirty minutes before deciding to get up and head to my bathroom. My hair was everywhere, and it looked as though I had decided to lick a light socket. Shrugging, I selected clothes from my closet and went into the bathroom to shower and wake up. To be honest, I was not at all looking forward to meeting either Elijah (whom I normally get my information from, unless he is impaired or away) or Marcel with a man who, to them, is the equivalent to having a serial killer standing at my shoulder, probably ready to gank us the first chance he has. At this thought though, I stopped; Mikael did not know I was a vampire. Did he have an inkling of suspicion? If he did, he certainly is the master at masking what he is thinking. Which further adds to my fears, but hey, aren't most of us afraid of something?

When I stepped out after a few minutes, there was an abrupt knock on my bedroom door.

"Who is it?" I called out.

"It's just Haniel," came the reply. "Balthazar just wanted to see you whenever you get done. Anywho, I'm off to some business down near the graveyard to get a report for my superiors. See you later, darling!"

I heard a whoosh, which meant that she had gone to her location instantly. Pulling on my clothes, I opened the door and headed down the hallway to Balthazar's study. As soon as I had put my hand up to knock, Balthazar opened the door and motioned, rather urgently, for me to come in. "Have a seat, my dear," he stated in a soft voice. I complied with a bit of reluctance, as it was not normal for him to be so urgent.

Taking a seat across from me, he laid out an item, wrapped in cloth, on the dark oak desk. "I have been given clearance from Michael himself to let you take this as you go and interrogate Elijah and Marcel. God only knows how they will be with _him_ around." Carefully, he unfolded the white and gold cloth to reveal a slender knife, with a long blade and a silver handle. I stared at it incredulously for what seemed like forever. "Is this…"

"An angel blade? Yes, that it is." He looked at me with a smile on his face. "I believe I trust you enough to let you handle one of these if there were to come danger. Although," he paused for a little bit of dramatic effect, "you _do_ have the bullets, which are made from angel blades, but since I expect you want to appear more diplomatic and not be toting around a Desert Eagle, I figured this blade would suit you just fine."

I looked up at him, with disbelief still apparent in my eyes, before rushing over and hugging him tightly, much to his surprise. "Thank you, Balthazar." His arms wrapped around me as he returned the hug, the scent of sea salt, sunbake, and a million other scents flooding my nostrils, and the feeling of his firm chest soothed me. The slight smell of pepper did make me sneeze, which interrupted the moment.

"Bless you!" he laughed. "Right. Are you going to be wearing a jacket or anything of that sort?"

"Yes, I am going to be wearing the yellow and black Hufflepuff hoodie."

"Oh boy, you sure?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Well, magic is not exactly held in the best light right now…"

I raised one of my eyebrows. "Harry Potter's magic is fictional, and is not the kind of dark magic the witches in the graveyard-"

His icy blue eyes twinkled, and he started laughing. "Ah, my dear, I was just jesting. Right, you will want to hold the knife in your sleeve in a way to where the end of it is cupped in your palm. It may prove to be a pain in the rear, but I think you will be able to _handle_ it."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to go back to my room, and was met with one of the power angel guards standing at the door. "Balthazar, sir, Mikael says he is ready and waiting to go." He turned to me and gave me a sympathetic look.

"Tell him to wait in the garage, and show him where it is, please," Balthazar ordered. Once the guard had gone to carry out the order, he turned back to me. "Well, may God be with you, my dear." He gave me a kiss on my forehead, and with that I turned and headed out to face...well, whatever I may face.

But more importantly, I needed my Hufflepuff hoodie.

Mikael was pacing around the area of the garage before he noticed me making my entrance. "About time, too!" he huffed when I came in.

"What, you think I'm jumping for joy about having you around? Shut your piehole, bucko, and get in the car," I snarled. I was not about to let this dirtbag intimidate me, especially not when the stakes at hand had been raised; unlocking the driver's side door, I slid into my Trans-Am and cranked the engine. Mikael hesitated for a moment before getting into the passenger's seat. We shared a long and cold glance with one another before I turned my attention to the driveway, and promptly drove off.

The ride there was mostly silent. That is pretty much it.

First stop was the Mikaelson compound, and from what I have gathered from spying on the family (and from learning just the general history about the area), the compound was actually known as a place called The Abattoir, and it used to be owned by the Mikaelsons until they had fled the city under mysterious circumstances (I say mysterious because I did not come to know them until about the early 2000s, which was also the same time I was assigned to keep track of their movements). Marcel, the man I was going to see later, had apparently taken hold of it after the family had fled, and used it as a sort of meeting place for a purpose I have yet to know. Thankfully, the street outside the large brick house was mostly silent, save for the occasional passerby. I pulled around into one of the parking slots to the side of the house, and promptly cut the engine, but before I got out, I turned to Mikael and stated, "You can stay in the car, if you want. I don't exactly think Elijah or any of 'em will be exactly glad to see you."

"I'm not afraid of them, girl-" he started.

"And you think I don't know that? I do not think I want to stand on the end of the angels' anger if you get killed by them; they find you too valuable for this investigation," I hissed. "And it may do you good to use my name, Mikael. Not too many people are fond of being called by their gender over their given name."

He looked at me with a hint of shock in his eyes, but mostly annoyance and anger. "I will stand my ground if they do attack, _Abira_ ," he snapped back, using my name in a sarcastic manner. "Do any of them know you work with the angels?"

My anger cooled off a little bit, and I shook my head. "No; they never realized I was spying on them. I made an acquaintance of Elijah and Klaus by claiming I'd heard of them from a friend."

"Well, that may not exactly be good for our advantage. If they knew you were working with the angels, it would be easier to get information because they will be too frightened of the angels to resist giving you the needed information."

"I can't just give out who I work with willy nilly, especially not to them. There is a reason I do not get involved in too many things around here; hear me when I say I have enemies everywhere, very powerful enemies. Enemies that make you look about as threatening as an angry Chihuahua."

Mikael frowned at this. "I'm still going in. If anything, they will be too intimidated by me to resist."

I took this to consideration. For a you know what, he does have a good sense of how folks work; plus, this would probably be an even better idea. "That's actually a good idea." With that, we both got out of the car, and I moved to the trunk. "But just in case, you may want a weapon on you that could delay an attack." He came around to the trunk, and when I opened it, his eyes grew wide.

"How in the-" he sputtered, leaning in to take a closer look. "What are you preparing for, the end of the world?"

I chuckled at this frightening vampire's reaction. "No, these are for my- erm- job. Don't worry, they aren't illegal."

He continued to stare, so I reached in and selected a small Baretta 93R pistol, examining it. "You have shot guns before, haven't you?"

"Yes, I have. I was a police chief in Chicago back..well, a long time ago."

"Huh." I handed him the pistol. "Baretta 93R. Excellent pistols, very lightweight. Automatic rounds. Stopped producing 'em back in '93. I would keep it concealed if I were you."

After closing the trunk, we made our way to where the front entrance was, and I knocked on the door. Nobody came for about 5 minutes, but then we heard footsteps and a dark-haired woman answered it. She looked at me with vague curiosity and maybe with a hint of haughtiness before her eyes shifted to Mikael. Horror overtook her features and her green eyes shifted from him back to me in a frantic manner. "Uh...who are you?"

I smiled. "I'm Abira Lee; I'm an acquaintance of Niklaus and Elijah. Is Elijah home?"

She continued to look between Mikael and I. "Elijah is a bit...ill, at the moment, but I can get Klaus. I'm Hayley, by the way. Come in."

"Nice to meet you, Hayley." I moved past her into the ginormous bottom floor, and Mikael drew up beside me. As she went to go find Klaus, Mikael hissed, "She beat me up one time, and she was heavily pregnant when doing so. Tough and a bit of a snob, to put it lightly."

"When she was _pregnant?_ There's no way- human women can hardly stand up when they become heavily pregnant." I shook my head. "Hybrid pregnancies must be weird to the extreme."

"They're actually not supposed to happen. Now _werewolves_ can become pregnant, and Hayley was one, but then she and Niklaus had relations and then she was pregnant. The issue is that Niklaus is half-vampire, and vampires are sterile."

"Ah."

Within the minute, Niklaus came down the stairs. "I was told I had visitors." He stopped suddenly at the last step, and, like Hayley, developed a look of horror and disbelief over his features. " _Mikael_."

Mikael's features shifted as well- his eyes became icier than ever, and he developed the creepiest grin I had ever seen. "Hello _boy._ "

Klaus turned to me, a kind of horrified anger spreading across his features. "And what business do you have bringing _him_ here, Abira? I know we do not exactly like each other that much, but I never expected you would want to kill me."

"We are not here to kill you, Klaus. _He_ is here with me on research business," I replied calmly.

Niklaus looked at me skeptically. "Are you _friends_ with him?"

"No, not in the least," Mikael answered this time. "Rather, we are...cooperatives." He shared a glance with me, to which I shrugged. Sounded about right.

"We will not be long. I just have some questions," I piped in. When Klaus did not object, I inquired, "Have you heard of any odd supernatural happenings around New Orleans?"

He thought for a moment, then replied, "Other than what is going on with my brother, I have heard that there were some mysterious bites occurring around the bayou and near the cemetery."

"Can you recognize the bite patterns?" Mikael inquired.

Klaus gave him a withering glance before replying, "I have only seen one of the bodies, back when I was down by the bayou with Hayley trying to talk some sense into her people, and I only saw it for a flicker of a second. But from what I could tell, it was unmistakably that of a hybrid."

"Had you seen that body before, but alive?"

"No. Why, do you think _I_ am responsible for these bites?" He spat the last question.

"You are a suspect in this," Mikael snapped.

"I can safely assure you that I am not responsible for these bites. I do not completely drain the bodies I feed upon."

I scoffed silently at this.

"Now what about Hayley?"

"What about her?"

"Could she be responsible for these bites?" Mikael clarified icily.

Klaus paused for a moment before he turned around and proceeded to yell, "HAYLEY!"

 _Good Lord, he has the lungs of a whale,_ I thought.

Hayley appeared at the top of the steps. "You do realize that you don't have to shout, right?"

"Abira has something to ask you."

Hayley focused on me with a gaze that told me she was both bored and apathetic, but she listened anyway.

"Are you aware of the bites occurring around New Orleans, especially around the cemetery and in the bayou?"

She blinked blankly for a moment, then she began thinking. "I have. Bite on the side of the neck, blood drained?"

"Precisely. Now, have you been around either the bayou or in the cemetery any time recently?"

"Other than going with Klaus to see my people and to visit a place near the bayou, no."

I nodded. "Good. That is all we needed. Thank you." Just as Mikael and I turned to leave, Klaus shouted, "Wait!"

This I had a feeling about. Upon turning, we both faced Klaus coming up to us. "Last I saw you, Mikael, we had you cornered in the warehouse."

"Yes, being surrounded by a pack of fools, women, and children you force to fight your battles," Mikael replied, his last word embedded with a sneer.

"How odd I find it that just as I delivered that great last line, with my comrades behind me, there came a blinding light and loud bang. Then the room began to smell suspiciously of tear gas, and once it cleared, you were gone." He looked at me now, suspicion filling his gaze.

And I thought Mikael's gaze was scary. I shifted the angel blade in my hand a small bit.

Mikael stepped in front of me and flashed Niklaus the best fake confused look I had ever seen in years. "Really? I don't remember that. Perhaps your delusional mind was making things up. Anyhow, there is one more thing we need; is Marcel around?"

"He should be at his loft across the river."

"Excellent. Bye!" I piped up, scurrying through the door after Mikael.

Mikael placed the gun back in the trunk, and closed it before he came to the passenger side of the car. He remained silent for a few moments, during which I took the liberty to ask, "Why did you lie back there?"

"Hm?"

"You pretended as though you did not remember me rescuing you. Why?"

"The angels find you valuable too, do they not? I don't want them becoming angry at me either." He sighed. "Plus, I did not want to satisfy Klaus with the truth; he isn't worth that."

I was shocked, to say the least. "Thank you, I guess?"

He nodded, and with that, I started the engine and drove away.


	6. Chapter 5: The Slaughter

Chapter 6: The 12 Trucks

Mikael and I arrived back at the house around 5:30 in the evening only to find that the house was lit up and there was much activity occurring inside. After leaving the car in the garage, we made our way up to the main floor, where many angels were meeting and discussing things urgently. Balthazar and Haniel were both talking to one of their superiors before they noticed us, as did the other angels, who stopped talking and looked over at us. Some cast hostile glances at Mikael, while some of the others looked at me with a hint of skepticism and kind curiosity. "Ah, there they are!" Balthazar exclaimed joyfully. His superior nodded to me in a friendly manner, and I bowed my head out of respect. "Armed with good information?"

"Plenty!" I replied.

"Then why don't you tell all of us what you two found?" He gestured to the center of the room. "We have a big breakthrough in as well."

"Yours looks to be more urgent, so we will wait on y'all," I replied sheepishly, now that every angel had their attention on the two of us.

Balthazar nodded, then cleared his throat. "The report from the power angel officers set around the Lafayette cemetery is grave indeed in regards to this investigation. He told Haniel that the witches in the cemetery mentioned something about 'them' having arrived, and that this group came to them from an outside source. "

There was an understandable silence after this declaration.

"And now, Abira, what have you gathered?" Haniel asked me.

I stepped to the middle of the room and took a deep breath before stating, "Mikael and I found out today that the bites were not caused by Klaus or Hayley. Klaus and Hayley both confirmed this themselves, and Marcel, the aforementioned friend who lives across the river, also confirmed it. What's more, Marcel mentioned that there had been 12 slaughtered hybrids that were mysteriously vanished from Mystic Falls, Virginia, and that there had been some mysterious happenings occurring in New Orleans recently, and he gave us this," I stated, waving the security tape in my hand. Some of the angels near me starting chattering almost excitedly.

"May we play the tape, sir?" Balthazar asked a tall, dark-haired angel. When his superior gave a nod, I handed him the tape and he put it in the CD slot in the player under the flat screen TV.

The image appeared on the TV, and it showed what appeared to be the front of Rousseau's, the bar that Marcel had mentioned. The time stamp read about midnight on March 15th, 2013 and at first the street was mostly deserted and lit up with orange streetlights and lights from 24 hour stores. Then, as 12:30 AM rolled around, what appeared to be a black GMC Yukon drove down the street, but what made it so odd was that it was creeping along, perhaps at about 15 mph when the speed limit on that street in particular was about 25 or 30 mph.

But the Yukon was not alone.

Following very close behind it were 12 huge Mack tractor trailers, all of them going at about the same speed as the Yukon in front, but the odd thing was that the trailers themselves had no company logos, and their license plates were all from Virginia. At that moment, realization hit me like a thunderbolt; 12 trucks. 12 hybrids. But who were driving the trucks, and who drove the Yukon?!

Perhaps the strangest part of that video was the last little bit. This time, another GMC Yukon pulled into view, but then stopped abruptly. The driver door opened, and a rather dark and shadowy figure made its way to where the camera was and just like that, the video was over.

We stared at the screen for a few moments before Haniel stood, and I went back over to where Mikael was. Even he appeared to be baffled, but a small part of him appeared to understand. "It fits with the description that Marcel gave us, but if the hybrids were brought into town just last year, then..."

"Then there may be more hybrids we do not know about that were conducting the killings from '91 up until 2012," I finished, with a cold pit of dread developing in my stomach. But the cold pit did not go away, and I began to feel dizzy and nauseated; unfortunately, I knew why.

"Abira? Are you okay?" Mikael asked, looking at me with an odd look.

"Uh..yeah, yeah I'm fine," I replied. "Excuse me for a moment." I went over to Balthazar, who was looking at the ground in thought. He looked up the moment I neared. In a quiet whisper, I stated, "I haven't fed yet this year. May we go and.."

He nodded instantly, then turned and muttered something to his superior before leading me to one of the three bathrooms on the first floor. But as we went, I turned to notice that Mikael was looking at me intently, with suspicion in his eyes, but when his eyes met mine, he turned away. Once we were in, Balthazar grabbed his large Bowie knife (which he kept hidden for this purpose) and made a cut near his wrist, which welled up with blood instantly. I felt my fangs protrude, and my eyes hurt slightly from the veins being forced to the surface, but I bit into his arm and began to drink his blood. It tasted incredibly sweet, and I felt my strength returning instantly and at a rapid rate. Once I had my fill, I stood back up. "Thank you. Did I take too much?"

"No, my dear, you didn't," Balthazar replied gently, putting a strand of hair behind my ear. "You should probably wash your face before leaving the bathroom. Don't want Count Dracula getting suspicious."

I chuckled, and wiped my mouth with the red towel while Balthazar waited patiently. "I think he may be slightly suspicious; I saw how he was looking at us as we went into the bathroom."

He frowned, but said nothing as he held up his arm. Then he grinned. "See? You can never take too much blood from me, darling." Where I had bitten was now fully healed, thanks mainly to Balthazar's angel healing abilities. "C'mon, let's get back out there."

We entered back into the main room, where Haniel was now in the center speaking to the company of angels. "What this tape means is that there were more hybrids in New Orleans that were conducting the bites from 1991 all the way to 2012."

I raised my hand, and Haniel nodded to me. "Yes, Abira?"

"Marcel stated that some of his guys found 5 human bodies around the cemeteries in 2009, and two more in 2010, leaving there to be 13 more bites in the years surrounding."

"Precisely. What's more, it appears as though the witches in Lafayette Cemetery are somehow trying to bypass the martial law imposed there, so we will need to focus every power angel on that cemetery until the threat can either be eliminated or diminished." She looked around the room. "Clear?"

"Clear!" replied the rest of the angels.

"Great! We have work to do, and we have people to save. That is what High Command has asked of us. Now, to your stations!" she exclaimed, and almost immediately, the room was emptied of the angels, save for Balthazar and herself.

She smiled at us. "Well done getting the needed information. Now, since we have seen that you two can get along to serve a common goal," she drawled, looking from me to Mikael, "I have another task for you."

"And what would such a task entail?" Mikael asked.

"On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I want you two to take a patrol of the city late at night, to ensure that no other odd activity is occurring in the area. I would recommend taking the Trans-Am as a patrol vehicle, as it is faster to respond to danger and it has the needed weapons." She looked intently at both of us. "You will cooperate, if you choose to take this task, right?"

"Yes ma'am," I replied, casting a short glance up at Mikael. Mikael sighed deeply, then nodded. "We accept."

"Excellent. I knew I could depend on you guys," she replied, smiling. "Now, I must be off back to Heaven for updates on orders. _Ciao_!"


	7. Chapter 6: The 12 Trucks

Chapter 7: Missing Links

I was reading in my room about a couple of hours after the angels had had the meeting, but my mind was not at all focused on the book in front of me.

Why were the trucks not in possession of any company? And more importantly, who was able to get all of those trucks and coordinate them so perfectly? Frustration crowded at the edges of my mind until I finally got up, went over to my bookshelf, and grabbed a spare notebook from the top shelf. Pulling out a pencil, I began to scribble the notes onto a blank page:

 _12 Mack trucks. 12 dead hybrids._

 _2 Yukons. Source unknown. Involvement of demons possible?_

 _Investigate shadowy figure of rear Yukon._

At the last line, I gave pause. Shadowy figures...now hadn't I seen figures just like that before, especially during my deployment in Kuwait? I had seen them all around the barracks, and especially when there were firefights between some of my units and a pack of Iraqi forces. But then again, my memories of what happened during my years of service are somewhat foggy, and the shadows could have simply been hallucinations or phantoms around the edges of my eyes. I would have to review the tapes again and see if anything clicked in my mind. With that, I stood up and went downstairs to watch the evidence.

Mikael was sitting on the edge of the couch facing the TV, and it looked as though he was reviewing the tapes as well. The screen was currently paused on the scene where the trucks crept in, and he looked to be studying the license plates intently. "These plates...can't we try and find out what lies behind the numbers?" he inquired, not looking away from the screen.

"We could try and ask Marcel about his connections with the police around here, but..."

Mikael looked over at me. "But what?"

I continued thinking for a little while. Then realization struck me. "Balthazar has some under his command that are in police forces across the United States- part of keeping track of demon movements." I looked up at Mikael. "We could ask him!"

Mikael looked blankly at me for a moment, then the first grin I'd seen since I met the man spread across his face. "Nice idea. Impressive, even."

I grinned back, then stood up and headed upstairs to Balthazar's study, with Mikael towing behind me. I knocked on the door, and Balthazar opened the door. "Need something, darling?"

"If you are not busy at the moment, we have some questions."

He opened the door further and nodded us both in before shutting it. "What would you like to know?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"You do still have some under your command here in the New Orleans police force, right?" I inquired.

Balthazar thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, they are still stationed there. Why?"

"Do you think it could be possible for them to run the license plate numbers of the trucks in the video?" Mikael inquired.

"Of course. In addition to those numbers, also give me the numbers of the plates on the two Yukons to send in as well." Balthazar sighed and scratched his head. "High Command has yet to give me my orders, so I will be of assistance until Haniel returns with our assignments."

"Thank you, Balthazar," I replied, hugging him before Mikael and I returned to the living room and went back to when the first Yukon pulled into view. As the tape played, I scribbled down the numbers of the license plates of the vehicles:

 _Yukon 1: WYT775_

 _Truck 1: DFGT889_

 _Truck 2: BVD785_

 _Truck 3: GHEF34_

I continued on writing the numbers for the rest of the trucks, but when the feed reached the last Yukon, I said,"Wait- pause the video here." The shadowy figure had stepped out of the vehicle and was in full view of the camera; my mind immediately began to race. Mikael was looking at me skeptically. "What is it?"

"That figure- I've seen it before." My stomach dropped. There was no mistaking what I'd seen in Kuwait, and it was certainly no hallucination. "Mikael, that's a demon."

"So thereis _demon_ involvement in this?"

"There is no mistaking what that shadowy figure is- I've battled against them many times before."

A wave of realization washed over Mikael. "So your supposed job is some kind of a... _demon hunter_?"

"Yep."

He fell silent after this. Whether it was a good silent or a bad silent I'm unsure, but now was not the time to focus on that. I hastily scribbled the last license plate number onto the paper and tore it out of my notebook before dashing upstairs and knocking urgently on Balthazar's door. He opened it and ushered me inside quickly. "Abira, I've something to tell you. Haniel found out.."

"It's demon involvement," we both sputtered at the same time.

"Sorry. You go first," I said, catching my breath.

"Haniel just got here a few seconds ago-she just left- and she reported that the witches the power angels had battled against had broken the martial law in 2013 in order to set up an alliance with the demons, especially since their power was diminishing greatly. In return for their allegiance, the witches agreed to let the dead hybrids be puppets for the demons. But it's worse than that." He took a deep breath. "Haniel was right- there were other hybrids from '91 to 2012 that had been brought in also by the witches' deal, except those witches were killed in a previous skirmish with some of Michael's forces, leaving them to be under the complete control of the demons. Now those hybrids will join the newly brought ones."

My stomach fell, and my heart began racing in fear; this news was dreadful indeed. "Mikael and I were watching the tapes again, and I noticed that in the rear Yukon, there was a weird shadowy figure that had stepped out and cut the security feed. I remembered seeing them all the time in Kuwait and in Iraq during Desert Storm, then I remembered that the figure was a demon, not just some weird camera trick or hallucination, since I have been seeing them for years now. This would make sense, especially if the demons saw the slaughter and ordered the witches to bring them back here." Then I remembered the license plate numbers, and I handed the paper over to him. "I hate to disappoint, my dear, but those numbers will be irrelevant now that we know who brought the bodies in. But thank you for helping."

I nodded. "No problem. What should Mikael and I do now that we know the demons are involved?"

"Haniel informed me to tell you guys you will now be patrolling every night except for Friday night. Patrol the road where we saw the security feed down to the one outside Lafayette Cemetery. Be armed and be ready in case of an attack."

I nodded, understanding how grave the situation had now become. Looking outside at the window, the sky was now already dark, and faintly I could see the constellation of Orion rising in the western sky. Sighing, I turned to Mikael and said, "Well, we might as well get an early start. Meet you in the garage?"

Mikael nodded at this, and with that I headed down to where my Trans-Am was waiting. I paused for a moment and rested my head on the wooden stair rail.

Help us, Lord God, for now the stakes have been raised and we could both wind up losing our immortality.

 _Help us._


	8. Chapter 7: Missing Links

Chapter 7: Missing Links

I was reading in my room about a couple of hours after the angels had had the meeting, but my mind was not at all focused on the book in front of me.

Why were the trucks not in possession of any company? And more importantly, who was able to get all of those trucks and coordinate them so perfectly? Frustration crowded at the edges of my mind until I finally got up, went over to my bookshelf, and grabbed a spare notebook from the top shelf. Pulling out a pencil, I began to scribble the notes onto a blank page:

 _12 Mack trucks. 12 dead hybrids._

 _2 Yukons. Source unknown. Involvement of demons possible?_

 _Investigate shadowy figure of rear Yukon._

At the last line, I gave pause. Shadowy figures...now hadn't I seen figures just like that before, especially during my deployment in Kuwait? I had seen them all around the barracks, and especially when there were firefights between some of my units and a pack of Iraqi forces. But then again, my memories of what happened during my years of service are somewhat foggy, and the shadows could have simply been hallucinations or phantoms around the edges of my eyes. I would have to review the tapes again and see if anything clicked in my mind. With that, I stood up and went downstairs to watch the evidence.

Mikael was sitting on the edge of the couch facing the TV, and it looked as though he was reviewing the tapes as well. The screen was currently paused on the scene where the trucks crept in, and he looked to be studying the license plates intently. "These plates...can't we try and find out what lies behind the numbers?" he inquired, not looking away from the screen.

"We could try and ask Marcel about his connections with the police around here, but..."

Mikael looked over at me. "But what?"

I continued thinking for a little while. Then realization struck me. "Balthazar has some under his command that are in police forces across the United States- part of keeping track of demon movements." I looked up at Mikael. "We could ask him!"

Mikael looked blankly at me for a moment, then the first grin I'd seen since I met the man spread across his face. "Nice idea. Impressive, even."

I grinned back, then stood up and headed upstairs to Balthazar's study, with Mikael towing behind me. I knocked on the door, and Balthazar opened the door. "Need something, darling?"

"If you are not busy at the moment, we have some questions."

He opened the door further and nodded us both in before shutting it. "What would you like to know?" he asked, looking back and forth between the two of us.

"You do still have some under your command here in the New Orleans police force, right?" I inquired.

Balthazar thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, they are still stationed there. Why?"

"Do you think it could be possible for them to run the license plate numbers of the trucks in the video?" Mikael inquired.

"Of course. In addition to those numbers, also give me the numbers of the plates on the two Yukons to send in as well." Balthazar sighed and scratched his head. "High Command has yet to give me my orders, so I will be of assistance until Haniel returns with our assignments."

"Thank you, Balthazar," I replied, hugging him before Mikael and I returned to the living room and went back to when the first Yukon pulled into view. As the tape played, I scribbled down the numbers of the license plates of the vehicles:

 _Yukon 1: WYT775_

 _Truck 1: DFGT889_

 _Truck 2: BVD785_

 _Truck 3: GHEF34_

I continued on writing the numbers for the rest of the trucks, but when the feed reached the last Yukon, I said,"Wait- pause the video here." The shadowy figure had stepped out of the vehicle and was in full view of the camera; my mind immediately began to race. Mikael was looking at me skeptically. "What is it?"

"That figure- I've seen it before." My stomach dropped. There was no mistaking what I'd seen in Kuwait, and it was certainly no hallucination. "Mikael, that's a demon."

"So thereis _demon_ involvement in this?"

"There is no mistaking what that shadowy figure is- I've battled against them many times before."

A wave of realization washed over Mikael. "So your supposed job is some kind of a... _demon hunter_?"

"Yep."

He fell silent after this. Whether it was a good silent or a bad silent I'm unsure, but now was not the time to focus on that. I hastily scribbled the last license plate number onto the paper and tore it out of my notebook before dashing upstairs and knocking urgently on Balthazar's door. He opened it and ushered me inside quickly. "Abira, I've something to tell you. Haniel found out.."

"It's demon involvement," we both sputtered at the same time.

"Sorry. You go first," I said, catching my breath.

"Haniel just got here a few seconds ago-she just left- and she reported that the witches the power angels had battled against had broken the martial law in 2013 in order to set up an alliance with the demons, especially since their power was diminishing greatly. In return for their allegiance, the witches agreed to let the dead hybrids be puppets for the demons. But it's worse than that." He took a deep breath. "Haniel was right- there were other hybrids from '91 to 2012 that had been brought in also by the witches' deal, except those witches were killed in a previous skirmish with some of Michael's forces, leaving them to be under the complete control of the demons. Now those hybrids will join the newly brought ones."

My stomach fell, and my heart began racing in fear; this news was dreadful indeed. "Mikael and I were watching the tapes again, and I noticed that in the rear Yukon, there was a weird shadowy figure that had stepped out and cut the security feed. I remembered seeing them all the time in Kuwait and in Iraq during Desert Storm, then I remembered that the figure was a demon, not just some weird camera trick or hallucination, since I have been seeing them for years now. This would make sense, especially if the demons saw the slaughter and ordered the witches to bring them back here." Then I remembered the license plate numbers, and I handed the paper over to him. "I hate to disappoint, my dear, but those numbers will be irrelevant now that we know who brought the bodies in. But thank you for helping."

I nodded. "No problem. What should Mikael and I do now that we know the demons are involved?"

"Haniel informed me to tell you guys you will now be patrolling every night except for Friday night. Patrol the road where we saw the security feed down to the one outside Lafayette Cemetery. Be armed and be ready in case of an attack."

I nodded, understanding how grave the situation had now become. Looking outside at the window, the sky was now already dark, and faintly I could see the constellation of Orion rising in the western sky. Sighing, I turned to Mikael and said, "Well, we might as well get an early start. Meet you in the garage?"

Mikael nodded at this, and with that I headed down to where my Trans-Am was waiting. I paused for a moment and rested my head on the wooden stair rail.

Help us, Lord God, for now the stakes have been raised and we could both wind up losing our immortality.

 _Help us._


	9. Chapter 8: Outrunning a Demon (or more)

Chapter 8: Outrunning a Demon (or 2, or 4)

The roads were mostly quiet that night as Mikael and I patrolled around the area, eerily enough copying almost the exact same situation as the one we'd seen in the security footage, only there were no Yukons and no trucks, obviously. "We have been out here since 7:45, and it is now 12:15. Nothing so far, which I guess is a good thing in this situation," I sighed. "We've run the patrol route at least 10 different times."

Mikael was scanning the area intently, and I had to admit it, I was glad that he was part of the patrol; he had the keenest eyes of anyone I've ever known, and slowly but surely I was beginning to trust in his thought process. Must be an Original vampire perk or something along those lines. But in this case, it could save both our butts now that the flame had been turned up. "Perhaps they're hiding. Then again, I do not know much about their nature," he suggested.

Chuckling slightly, I replied,"They can be good at hiding, but I have a good feeling that these demons somehow want to make themselves known, especially to the supernatural community. But none of that shocks me- pride did make the Devil fall from grace, after all."

"I guess that's true." He thought for a moment. "Abira, can I ask you a question?"

"Uh...sure," I responded hesitantly. This sudden formality of asking a question when I was used to him demanding shocked me a good bit. That, and I was bracing for him to ask if I were a vampire.

"Why am I still around? If my purpose has been fulfilled, why keep me? Especially since Balthazar and I do not exactly have a...symbiotic relationship, if you will."

His question made me pause; the answer was ambiguous, even to me. He was free to leave if he wanted to, but for some reason, he never spoke of it, nor did Haniel or Balthazar. "To be honest, I don't know. Perhaps the angels need to give clearance for you to leave." I glanced curiously at him. "Why do you ask?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "Curiosity, I guess."

We were traveling along the road outside of Lafayette Cemetery for what had to have been the 11th time, and not a soul was in sight. I assumed that until I heard what sounded like an engine rumbling behind us; it sounded alarmingly close, too. "Mikael, you hear that?"

"Yes- Abira, we've got company," he reciprocated, nodding to the rearview mirror. And you will never guess what was travelling along behind us.

A black GMC Yukon. The exact same make and model as the ones in the footage, and travelling at the exact same pace.

"Is it a demon driving that thing?" Mikael hissed.

"Let me see," I responded, taking a left turn back to our starting point. Sure enough, the Yukon followed us; time to throw 'em off. "Hang on to what you've got, Mikael. We're gonna have to throw them off our trail- hold up, is that a police Yukon they're driving?!"

The Yukon was flashing red, white, and blue lights, but there was no siren nor were there any markings for any police department. With that, I pressed down on the gas and sped back around the route we had come, ramping the speed up to about 35.

Mikael looked behind us. "Shouldn't we leave our patrol route to leave them in the dirt?"

"Yes. Did you see any offroads or any roads branching off this one?" In the dark, it was not at all easy to see any roads branching off (even with vampire vision), but then as I passed Rousseau's, I noted a road opening up to the left. Without hesitation, I made a sharp turn onto that road, bumping the speed of the vehicle up now to 49 mph. The Yukon was right on our heels, and I greatly feared that the demons would run up on the car and try to shove us off of the road. Then I paused; couldn't we do the same to them?

"Okay Mikael, here's my plan," I started, swerving around a trash can left on the road, "I'm gonna throw this thing in reverse. Perhaps we can disorient the vehicle enough to shove them off the road, 'cause that is what they are trying to attempt with us."

"You must be _insane!_ " Mikael exclaimed. His icy blue eyes flashed wildly, and I was genuinely shocked at the sight of the fearsome vampire-vampire hunter displaying an appalled appearance.

"What, do you want to engage on a chase that could take us an amount of time only God knows?" I snapped back, adrenaline now coursing through my veins. "Hang on, here we go!"

With that, I threw the gear shift into reverse, and immediately the brakes squealed and I heard the distinct _crunch_ of metal hitting metal. I could smell burning rubber coming from both cars. The Yukon, being a much heavier vehicle, had a harder push against the back of the Trans-Am, but once I got my bearings, so to speak, I began to push back with a little more force, and began to turn the car left. It apparently succeeded, as the Yukon swerved left as well. But the driver of the Yukon recovered enough to shove us forward to the right a small bit. Gritting my teeth, I shoved back, harder this time, and almost at once I felt the Yukon now go right, and with that came a loud _screeeeeeech_ before I heard a loud _bang;_ turning for a split second, I saw that the Yukon had smashed headfirst into a tree _._ I almost let out a _Ha!_ when I saw a deer up ahead of us. Panicked, I slammed on the brakes, just missing the buck by about an inch, to which he skittered off into the woods just outside the city limits.

Both Mikael and I were breathless by that point and in a small bit of shock. I leaned heavily against the steering wheel, trembling and trying to catch my breath. "You okay?" I asked Mikael.

"I'm fine-other than being with a maniac driver," he panted, recovering from shock. "Where did you ever learn to do that?"

I grinned. "Tactical driving- learned it a long t-" I froze immediately when I heard what sounded like dozens of sirens coming up our way. 3 more black Yukons, still with no markings, raced up the hill yards behind us. With no warning, I threw the car into drive and wheeled out. "Okay- now we have more on our tail. Mikael, can you operate a cell phone?"

"I can try. Where is it?"

"In the cupholder. When you get it, the opening code is 1334. Text Balthazar and tell him we need backup ASAP. The car is already getting low on gas, and if they overtake us, they will take us both." I glanced up at the rearview, and a pit dropped in my stomach. They were coming up on us quickly, and I knew that the car was already close to empty.

"He said he's sending backup now. What is our location?"

Crap. I had no clue where we were. "I have no clue. Just tell him we are way outside the city limits, in the more forested part, likely northward."

Mikael gave me a questioning look, then shrugged and typed the message. Within seconds, Mikael replied, "He and a few under his command are on their way."

I felt a little relief, but then shock overtook me as I felt the car slow to a crawl, then it cut out completely. _NO NO NO NO NO!_

"Well, we are out of gas, and we have weapons in the back. Get out quickly and select a weapon," Mikael commanded, before throwing open the door. I followed suit and opened the trunk, retrieving a Mossberg 500 Cruiser pump-action shotgun and loading it with ammo. Mikael grabbed an AR-15 assault rifle, and once he loaded up we faced our opponents. They were closing in with incredible speed, but just as the first rounded the corner, I fired a shot into the front right tire, throwing the Yukon off greatly before it fell down the slight incline and smashed into a tree with its right side. Mikael fired off some shots from the rifle, but seeing as he had no proper training with a weapon like this and had missed his target of the windshield, I directed, "Try aiming it up and left a little bit. You're close." He gave me a glance before doing as I directed, and the Yukon screeched to a halt, as its driver was now gone. But the third Yukon came up so fast that we had no time to fire, causing us to jump aside. It turned and started racing back toward us, and this time Mikael hit dead on the money.

"Good shot!" I panted, relaxing against the back of the car. He was also breathless, but a grin stretched across his face.

A few minutes later, a helicopter (manned by none other than Balthazar) landed in a clearing not too far from where we were, and Balthazar stepped out and raced toward us. "Are you two alright?"

"Other than stunned, we're good," I chuckled.

"Well done at defending yourselves," Balthazar remarked. "Haniel will be here in a moment; she is bringing a few power angels and a tow truck."

"So those _were_ demons driving those things?" Mikael asked.

"Yes. No other officer would have pursued you so relentlessly, especially since you were not breaking the law."

A large tow truck pulled up a few minutes more, and Haniel stepped out of the car and raced over to us as well. "Oh praise the Maker that you are alright. Well done at evading them, you two."

Mikael and I both nodded, wordless and breathless. We watched as the power angels took the demons out of the Yukons and disappear with them.

"Get in the tow truck- I'll drive you both home. You've earned a break, and it's only your first night!"


	10. Chapter 9: When the Heat Rises

Chapter 9: When the Heat Rises

Tired does not even begin to describe how I felt after the chase the previous night; I felt as though I were some kind of a lead brick or a heavy statue as I struggled to awake the next morning, my muscles objecting to every movement. Sighing, I ignored the screaming in my muscles and trudged into my bathroom, splashing icy cold water onto my face before looking up into the mirror. My eyes were slightly baggy, and believe me when I say my eyes expressed the exact emotion I was feeling.

After taking a very refreshing shower and getting dressed in my favorite dark blue jeans and my favorite _Eagles_ shirt I had gotten at a concert (when the angels and I had been stationed in Kansas City due to some higher level demons causing issues), I stepped out into the (oddly empty) living room and sat down on one of the couches.

"Morning," Mikael's deep voice spoke all of a sudden, causing me to jump. He appeared in from the kitchen area with what appeared to be a glass of water, but he appeared to be oddly pale and fidgety, as he kept tapping his fingers along the side of the glass.

"Good morning. Uh, are you okay? You look like a corpse," I remarked, grinning a tiny bit.

"Ah..I'm fine," he replied, a bit awkwardly. By his body language, I could tell that he was the kind not to admit when he was in pain or when he needed something. "Actually, Abira, can I tell you something?"

Red flags were going off in my head, sounding louder than a Boeing 747 engine. "Sure.." I said, albeit reluctantly.

"I'm a vampire. Ancient vampire, to be exact," he managed to force out. His eyes avoided mine.

"I know." He looked at me with slightly widened eyes. "Man, if I know your family, I know that you are a vampire."

"I honestly thought it would shock you, as I have not shown you my true nature."

"Don't need to."

He became silent for a few minutes. "Then I assume that you know why I am so pale and..weak."

"You need blood." I sighed and stood up. "Here, hand me that glass."

He narrowed his eyes at me. "Why? What are you going to do?"

"What do you think, genius?" I spat impatiently.

"Don't talk back to me." he snarled.

"Are you my dad all of a sudden? Hand it here, for the freaking love of Pete!" I snapped.

"You do realize I could kill you in an instant, right? I suggest you tame that tongue before it brings your downfall."

"Oh _can_ you now? Man, _another human_ could kill me- heard of terrorists? So could a cat, tick, or even a really dedicated pigeon. You don't faze me with that crap. Hand me the glass or you can keel over because you had a stick up your rear end and refused blood." I felt adrenaline speeding through my veins, almost urging me to start fighting. But given the circumstances, that would be an incredibly stupid idea.

I could see anger blazing like an icy blue flame in his eyes, and I could definitely see darkness rising in him. I felt a small trickle of fear at this- perhaps I had run my mouth too much.

That is one thing about me: I tend to get lippy when angry. And it has gotten me in trouble in the past.

After a few tense moments, he finally handed me the glass in one jerky motion, his eyes not leaving mine.

"Thanks," I said in a brittle tone, turning around and heading to the kitchen. I grabbed one of the large knives from the knife holder and made a cut on the inner part of my forearm, going down towards the inner part of the elbow. I poured out the little water that was left, and filled the glass halfway with my blood before I grabbed an old rag and wrapped my wound with it. Grasping the glass, I headed back to the living room and handed the glass to Mikael. "Here."

He eyed me tersely before accepting the glass and downing it rather quickly. Within only a few minutes, his normal complexion was restored, and his hands were not fidgeting anymore. "I suppose I must thank you," he growled.

"You're welcome," I returned, a slight edge to my voice. "Balthazar should be coming down anytime now to give us the details on what exactly happened. I haven't been chased like - it felt like I was speeding for our lives through the backend of Hell." Footsteps coming down the stairs drew the attention of the both of us, and we saw Balthazar standing on the step nearest to the top. "I thought I heard bickering down here," he mused, coming down the rest of the stairs. "Are you both ready for your debriefing?"

"Yes," we replied simultaneously, straightening up a little bit.

Balthazar took up a position on the chair adjacent to the couch, letting out a small sigh as he did so. "Well, the report just came in at around 6 AM this morning that they were higher-level demons on their way to assess the progress of their "subjects," when they saw and recognized the Trans-Am and gave chase."

"What is being done with them now?" Mikael inquired.

"As of now, they are being dealt with by High Command- Michael and those under him came down just this morning to deal with them. What he will be doing with them, I have no idea- my orders have yet to come in- but you can be assured that they will not be giving chase anytime soon."

This news was somewhat reassuring, but the fact that they recognized the Trans-Am bothered me. "You said they recognized the Trans-Am?"

"I did."

"Does that mean we should use another vehicle for patrols?"

"That would be ideal, since you both are incredibly valuable. Take Lee instead when you patrol tonight."

"Lee?" Mikael inquired.

"I'll show you later," I answered. "Have our orders changed?"

"Not yet. Haniel will be back tonight to speak with you two, but she has to head to Beijing to ask one of her captains of something and to give orders concerning a particular province that keeps causing trouble." He grinned. "But for now, I would suggest that you two smooth out your differences and rest. We have no room for internal quarreling, not when there are more dangerous foes involved."

Mikael and I glanced awkwardly at each other before nodding reluctantly.

"Excellent. I shall be in my study if either of you need me." He smiled and turned around to head back up the stairs, disappearing from our sight.

Mikael turned to me. "So who exactly is Lee?"

"It's not a person, if that is what you are thinking," I explained, grinning mostly to myself. "Follow me."

The lights in the garage buzzed to life when I flipped on the switch, glancing brightly off of both vehicles.

"Watch this," I hissed to Mikael, who was standing confusedly behind me. "Lee, flash your lights if you can hear me!"

In an instant, the headlights on the Dodge Charger flickered twice. "I see you brought a guest. Is this the guy you told me was the backend of a donkey?" came the voice of the vehicle.

Mikael squinted at me. "You called me a what?"

"What? You are one- well, most of the time," I retorted, but I was using every ounce of nerve and strength to keep from busting out laughing.

Mikael, understandably, was not laughing. "Please explain why your car is sentient."

"Angel's blood, my boy," Lee responded, with a bit of an edge to his voice.

"I did not ask you, you sorry piece of scrap metal," Mikael growled. He went over to Lee and slammed his hand on the hood.

"Well I answered, you stinking leech," Lee retorted, and the driver's side door swung wide open and knocked Mikael on the ground. Within the second, Mikael stood back up and looked as though he were about to break the windshield when I exclaimed, "Hey now, that's enough out of y'all!"

Mikael, glaring at the car, carefully replaced the wrench he had grabbed off the wall, and Lee slowly closed the driver door, but I can guarantee you that if Lee had eyes, he would not have stopped staring at Mikael.

"Good. Lee, you will be our patrol vehicle for tonight. Apparently the demons we were chased by recognized the Trans Am, and High Command wants us to head out tonight again for another patrol."

"They really recognized the car? I'm shocked," Lee replied, his tone more sarcastic than anything.

"Lee, are you getting lippy with me?" I asked in a slightly teasing tone.

"Nah, I'm just kidding. Seriously though, I am shocked that they recognized the car after all this time."

I sighed. "Same here. Anyhow, just be ready around 8:30 or so tonight." Pausing, I turned to Mikael. "Would you help me transfer some of the weapons from the Trans-Am to Lee's trunk?"

Mikael, casting an icy glance down at Lee, nodded. "No guarantee that I won't "accidentally" fire one of the guns."

"So help me if you fire one, I will ship you to Hell in a cardboard box," Lee spat. "Or, rather, what's left of you."

"Try me," Mikael returned.

"Settle down gents, we have a task to do," I interrupted. That was when my phone buzzed, and the second I picked up, I heard Balthazar's voice on the other end. "Abira, I have grave news." His tone was unusually taut, and that sent a thrill of fear down my spine.

"What's wrong?" I inquired in a wobbly, worried tone. Mikael had stopped glaring at Lee, and his gaze was puzzled as he looked at me. _What's going on?_ he seemed to mouth.

I held my finger up.

"There is a threat that some demons are heading here to launch an attack. Come inside immediately, and bring weapons- especially my angel blade." With that, the other line clicked.

"What was that about?" Mikael asked, also in a taut tone.

"We have some demons coming in to attack," I replied, my heart thudding in my chest.


	11. Chapter 10: Secrets and Sieges

Chapter 10: Secrets and Sieges

I was practically falling over my own feet as Mikael and I raced into the house, catching our breath when we reached the living room. Balthazar met us at the bottom of the stairs, and I could tell from the look etched into his features that he was certainly worried. That look somewhat faded when he saw us, and I think he was incredibly relieved that we were okay.

"I've tried to get into contact with some of the angels in Lafayette Cemetery, and tell them that we need reinforcements, but they are beginning to experience an influx of demons there, so they will be occupied for a good while," he sputtered.

"Have you tried contacting Haniel?" I inquired.

"She's still busy over in Beijing. I've contacted her at least three times with no response."

Yikes. We were basically on our own. As if you couldn't guess that already.

"What should we do, then?" I asked.

"We need to prevent them from actually getting into the mansion. Abira, you and Mikael will remain in here for the rest of the day and help me maintain guard. You will both need to utilize the sniper rifles you brought up in order to gain a long-distance shot." He gestured to the two rifles I had brought up- an EDM Arms Windrunner and a Barak. "I will hold the ground in here, and I will try to contact my superiors to try and get reinforcements."

"Where should we shoot them from?" Mikael piped up.

"There are two balconies on the third floor, and they provide a view of the entire driveway and a little bit beyond that. Those should make great vantage points."

Mikael and I nodded gravely. "And if we find they're getting too close?"

"I thought of that. Here," he responded, handing us each what appeared to be Bluetooth earpieces. "If you two need to fall back, I will come on over these."

I put the piece in my right ear. "Thank you, Balthazar."

Smiling, he said, "May God be with you both."

"A bit windy, but not too bad," Mikael shouted to me from his balcony. He had chosen the balcony on the right, and brought up with him the Windrunner, as it was much bigger and heavier, and me, being all of 5'4" and about 165 pounds, it would have towered over me.

"So do you know how to shoot a sniper rifle?" I shouted back over the roar of the wind.

"Never too late to learn," he replied.

"Just be sure the scope is fixed and that you mind the recoil. It can hurt like mad if you're not prepared."

"Got it!"

The sound of rumbling engines drew us both to the front gates of the house. In a long convoy, there was an assortment of armored trucks and what appeared to be... _tanks?_

I pressed the call button on the earpiece, and the minute that Balthazar picked up, I reported, "Balthazar, they've got tanks and armored trucks coming through the front gate. I doubt that our bullets will be enough to stop them."

"Aim through the windshield for the trucks, and also aim for the engine block. I have gotten into contact with my superiors, and they will be here any second now." The line clicked after that.

I aimed the Barak carefully at the front truck, the one trying to ram down the gate and failing to do so. Stilling my breathing, my finger snaked itself around the cool metal of the trigger, and pulled.

 _BOOM._

The recoil hit my shoulder pretty hard, but I watched with satisfaction as the bullet pierced through the glass and struck the driver directly in the head. The vehicle stopped moving at that exact second, but I had to be quick, as the demon in the passenger seat attempted to seize the steering wheel and climb over his dead comrade in order to finish what was started.

A sudden second gunshot shook me out of my thoughts,and I looked over at Mikael, then back at the truck. Both demons were graveyard dead.

"Nice shot!" I hollered over to him, to which he turned to me and gave a kind of grin. But the minute he turned around, his expression became grave.

And I could see why.

One of the tanks had turned in the direction of the balconies, and seemed to be staring at us through its hollow eye.

My earpiece buzzed slightly, and when I answered, Balthazar greeted me with a deep shout, "GET OFF THE BALCONIES. THAT TANK IS ABOUT TO FIRE!"

We hesitated for no amount of time, and booked it downstairs to where he waited. But the next second, a deafening explosion sounded from the third floor, and that floor crashed onto the second floor, which came barreling down onto the first floor. I remained crouched under the coffee table in the middle of the room, my hands over my head as a protective shield. Nothing but smoke and rubble greeted my gaze for a few moments.

"Guys? Are you okay?" I yelled.

The silence that followed my shout made me panic a little bit, but then I saw the tall silhouette of Mikael appearing from a nearby pile of rubble. "Okay!" he shouted hoarsely.

A small wave of relief crossed over me, then Balthazar declared, "I'm okay!"

Cautiously, I slid out from under the table and sat up. From the hole left in the third floor, I could tell that the right balcony was blown to pieces, and that the mortar fired at us had scorched what little I could see of the room. No doubt, the house was heavily damaged.

Balthazar and Mikael gazed up at the hole for a good while before focusing on the scene around them. "At least we're all okay," Balthazar muttered, shrugging in an attempt to add a little humor.

 _KABOOM!_

A second mortar blew open the area where the left balcony had been, causing more of the third floor to crash down, but this time it landed...

 _Right on top of me._

I felt a moment of blinding pain all over my body, but thanks to my rapid vampire healing, the pain faded quickly. But something else was wrong.

I could feel my fangs slowly slide down from their resting position, and my eyes throbbed slightly as they turned dark red. At that moment, I felt the hottest and most aggressive kind of anger fill my veins like napalm, and I started to stand up, shoving the rubble off of me as my super strength also kicked in. Once I fully rose, though, and faced Mikael and Balthazar, I froze.

Mikael's eyes were wide, and in an instant that anger was gone, and in place an icy, brutal fear throbbed through my body.

"I _knew_ it!" he exclaimed. "I knew you were a vampire this whole time!" Within an instant his vampire face took over, and he slammed me against the nearby wall.

"Your blood was much too sweet for a human, and don't think I noticed your vampire speed," he growled as he pressed his hand to my throat. The area began to grow fuzzy, and I could faintly feel his fangs brush against my neck.

"Hey! Get off of her!" Balthazar shouted, and I felt the pressure on my throat lift. Mikael had been thrown against the far wall. Balthazar's eyes were glowing as he kept him pressed against the wall.

Well, that was what I saw before I, you know, fainted.


	12. Chapter 11: Sure Retaliation

Chapter 11: Sure Retaliation

I wasn't sure what happened after I passed out, but when I awoke, I saw Haniel sitting at the foot of my bed. When I shifted my foot, she stood up, a relieved expression on her face.

"Oh good, you're awake," she sighed.

My head felt slightly fuzzy, but I was faintly aware of the burning feeling on my throat. "What happened?" I inquired in a hoarse voice.

"Exhaustion got to you, and combine that with sudden oxygen loss and a damaged trachea, you have a fainting stew," she remarked, grinning.

"And Mikael? Where's he?"

"Balthazar's unit got here just in time to chase off the demons, and they have Mikael incarcerated in his room until he cools off."

Nodding, I slowly sat up and rubbed my throbbing head. "What's going to happen to him? He knows I'm a vampire now."

Grief, it hurt to talk.

"That's still being decided, but I honestly do not think he will be cast out. After all, he knows too much now, and if he were to relay that information to another party-his children, for instance- then that could jeopardize future missions and cause demons everywhere to come flocking over here."

I said nothing after that, pondering it over in my mind. The news was kind of comforting, which surprised me because the man almost started to feed on my blood, which could have easily incapacitated me and put my life in danger- as if it wasn't already.

"Why does this news seem kind of comforting? It's weird," I mumbled aloud.

"Well, you have mostly been doing missions and hunts on your own, sometimes accompanied by one of us. It's nice to have a change to that every once in a while," Haniel explained.

That was true. It was nice to find someone who was the exact same species as me, but the fact remained that he tried to feed on me and possibly kill me.

A knock at the door alerted us to Balthazar's presence. For a quick flicker of a second, I saw his face shift from that of concern to that of instant relief. "Good, she woke up. You were out for about 8 hours, Abira. How do you feel?"

"I'm okay, but my throat hurts something fierce," I rasped.

"Given that he shoved you against the wall pretty hard, I would imagine it does," he remarked sympathetically, coming over and patting my arm.

"What's High Command saying we do with Mikael?" Haniel inquired.

"Well, they said that they are going to keep him for a little while, as it would not be wise to release him due to the fact that he knows too much now."

"And what of the demons that attacked us?" I asked.

"They are getting a counterattack ready at the graveyard. Speaking of which, I best be going," he replied, kissing me on the forehead. "Be back shortly."

After he had left, I slowly stood up from my position on the bed. "Do you think Mikael has calmed down any?"

"Well, given that I have not heard any screaming, yelling, or any other noises indicating he is still in a temper, I would assume so." Haniel tilted her head at me. "Why?"

"I just want to see if he has actually calmed down," I replied. "He may still be in shock, and it may be necessary to clear up any muddled details."

"That would make him more dangerous."

"True," I acknowledged. I treaded over to my dresser and pulled out my Desert Eagle, loading a chamber and sealing it in my waistband. "If the angel's blade bullets fail, would you mind accompanying me?"

"Of course."

We headed out of my room and immediately came to the door of his room. Hesitantly, I lifted my fist and knocked lightly on the door. "Mikael?"

No response.

I knocked harder. "Mikael!"

"What?" he growled.

"Comin' in," I replied, opening the door. The room inside was pretty dark, but thanks to the slight moonlight coming in through the large window, I could faintly see a dark


	13. Chapter 12: Welcome to a Nightmare

Chapter 12: Welcome to a Nightmare

To say I probably drove like a maniac to Lafayette Cemetery would be the biggest understatement of the 21st century; in fact, I was 99% sure that Doc Brown would be envying us at this point. Mikael and I had loaded the guns into Lee so fast that any thoughts or concerns were automatically blurred from our minds, as the only impulse we knew that had front stage was to get there and provide needed backup.

"Almost there!" Lee shouted as we pulled onto a familiar road, and in my peripheral vision I could tell that Mikael was gripping onto the door with a death grip. As the cemetery came into view, we could distinctly hear the sounds of combat rising onto the still and humid Louisiana air. Pulling into a spot, Mikael and I grabbed a weapon each with enough ammo to last, at the most, a few hours. However, once we were in the cemetery, we stared dumbfounded at the grey maze that loomed before us. _Where are they?!_ I growled in my mind, but as I turned to look at an open passageway, I tuned my hearing to get a sense of orientation. But before I could decipher where the sounds were coming from, Mikael exclaimed, "I hear them! Follow me!" before vamp speeding to the opposite direction. I kept up with him for what seemed like hours, but finally the scenes of battle greeted us.

The power angels were holding up a vicious fight against the fiendish demons, and I saw Balthazar and Haniel having a good go at a massive horde of them in another passageway. One of them was sneaking up behind her, crawling down the side of one of the grave and raising its claws to strike her, but before he could, I raised my Mossberg and shot it right in the side. In an instant, the hideous creature turned to face me and came charging at me so fast and so hard that I was knocked against one of the gravestones. After regaining my senses, I could make out the creature's outline hovering above me, to which I promptly lifted my leg and kicked it in the throat before planting more lead in its head. However, just as I finished him off, another came up from behind and latched itself onto my back. I struggled and spat, trying to get it off, but its claws had a firm grip on my skin and clearly had no intention of letting go. That's when, due to its weight, I fell backwards, crushing the creature before I shot him in the heart.

Mikael was struggling against two massive looking ones, and he was holding up a nasty fight, but they were clearly more powerful than he had anticipated. In a blur, I slammed the butt of my gun onto one's back, sending it down in a flash of gun smoke before it could react. Yet his buddy had released Mikael, and I went down painfully onto the concrete. Claws met flesh, feeling like a hot iron bashing my cheek. Another blow to the chest, and I felt blood rise in my throat. _Crap! SOMEONE HELP!_ I rocked back and forth, but the creature was so massive that even when I kicked it in between the legs, it did not move.

"Taste this, fiend!" I heard Mikael yell before demon blood splattered in my face. Yuck!

A hand reached out for me, and I rose to my feet. Mikael was just as bloodied as I felt, yet he grinned. "Thanks!" I panted before shouting, "WATCH OUT!"

I didn't see the creature at first, but it moved with the same speed that a vampire would move. I did get a good look when another one tackled me to the ground (again). The creature looked human, but clearly it wasn't, not with that speed. My head met its and put me back into power. _Hybrid!_ The word popped into my mind like a thunderclap before I had pinned down the creature and finished it.

Mikael and Balthazar both raced up to me. "The demons have retreated, but now here come more of the special forces," Balthazar rasped. As soon as the words exited his lips, Mikael turned and said, "Well, speak of the devil!"

10 more hybrids were lined up on the passageways surrounding us, and we all backed up into the small clearing as they marched forward in unison. Their eyes were glassy and unfocused, remnants of dirt still clinging to their clothes. When they stopped, Mikael, rubbing at clawmarks left from one of the fiends he'd finished, snarled, "What is it you want, pack of abominations?"

One of them stepped forward. He had dark brown hair and a broad, muscular build, so I was pretty intimidated. His voice, however, sounded as though it had been dragged through nails.

"You honestly believed that we would be stopped by a petty _law?!"_ the hybrid exclaimed. "No law ever established by man has stopped us! It may have worked for a while, but for now, _we_ run the Quarter."

"Eat us, you forsaken mongrel!" I spat at him. Then I realized my mistake. Yeah, remember that part about me running my mouth at bad times?

The hybrid grinned. "What a delightful idea, you little _leech!"_ He turned to the other hybrids. "Take out the vampires."

Horror exploded in my stomach as every hybrid turned their gaze on me and Mikael, who hissed in my ear, "You must learn to control that tongue, girl! Since we have both had our guns knocked out, the best way to kill a hybrid is to snap its neck!"

I had no time to respond before two came over and instantly bowled me over. One had me pinned, and before I could even think of retaliation, I felt fangs sink into my neck, causing me to scream in agony. Yet no more than 2 seconds after, I grabbed the head of the one pinning me down and used my strength to snap the neck.

 _Crack!_

My head yet again met with the other's, and the minute I had them, I sent it back to Hell.

Balthazar and the rest of the angels were easily keeping these guys back, so I raced to make sure Mikael was holding up as well.

And he wasn't.

At least 6 of them were on him, and without thinking, I hurled one of them over like a football.

"Take care of that one! I've got the rest!" he hollered, blocking one hybrid from biting his shoulder. The one I had thrown was getting to her feet, and I instantly made quick work of her neck, satisfied by the crack of bone.

The lead hybrid was exposed and bewildered. " _HOW?!_ These hybrid bodies were supposed to be stronger than that!"

Mikael drew up beside me, bloodied but exhilarated, as given by his rigid body language. "Ha, that fool!" he hissed, turning to me. "That was decent fighting back there."

Grinning, I replied, "Not bad for the Original father."

The rest of the hybrids were slain easily by the hands of the angels, and we all ganged up on the lead hybrid, whose eyes were wide with wild fear. "We-we were supposed to win!" His gaze swung around to us. "YOU STINKING LEECHES! If we had our way, you both would be our puppets! We could take over any town we wanted!"

Mikael seized the hybrid by the small hairs on the back of his head, and growled, "You do not hold power over us, especially not _me!"_

I stalked forward to the hybrid's other ear, snarling, "Tell those losers down below that they will never have the "leech spy" on their side. Also, tell them to stay out, or we will track down every force that have here in New Orleans- allied or main forces- and beat them into oblivion."

Balthazar stalked forward, his eyes glowing. "And with that, you now recede back to Hell!" A bright light shown forward, and the ground began to tremble before it stopped abruptly. The hybrid had completely disintegrated.

I slumped to the ground, exhausted from the battle and from the werewolf venom raging through my system. Mikael crouched beside me. The angels were now conversing amongst themselves, and Haniel stepped over to us. "Well done, you two," she praised, smiling at both of us. Carefully, she made a cut on her wrist and brought it to my mouth. I gladly drank, feeling my strength flooding back into me. My wounds all closed, and when I was done, she hauled me back to my feet. Balthazar administered his blood to Mikael, who first refused it, then deciding to drink.

Haniel peered up at the brightening sky. "One battle won, but the war is still raging. At least for now they will stay out."

"Mmm...Haniel, was it?" Mikael spoke suddenly.

"Yes?"

He sighed a bit before, in a chuckling voice, he said. "I think I accept your deal."

At that, I smiled for the first time in days.


	14. Epilogue

Epilogue

[Two months later]

The mansion was close to too full of angels as they gathered in the main level of the mansion. Thankfully, two months after the vicious graveyard battle, we were able to get the holes in the roof repaired and back to their original state, though I sometimes heard creaking from where the wind pressed on the boards a little too hard.

The mood in the room was one of elation and a little bit of skepticism too; believe me, I shared some of the doubts they had, but the main question on my mind was why he had changed his mind all of a sudden in regards to hunting. I shook my head, and when Balthazar called for attention, I turned to face the center of the room.

"I am so pleased that all of you are here with us this evening. I will not speak for long, and I am honored to hand over attention to Gabriel himself," Balthazar proudly remarked, spinning on his heel and nodding to a huge and intimidating man with black hair. Gabriel nodded in respect to Balthazar, and strode over to Mikael, who stood erect and almost unmoving, save for his steady breathing. "Mikael, do you solemnly swear to operate under the authority of God, to forego the drinking and abuse of humans in exchange for their protection, and to aid in the blocking of the tides of evil spread at the hands of Satan and his followers?"

Mikael nodded. "I do solemnly swear." His voice echoed deeply throughout the room.

Haniel brought forward a large black Bible with a golden cross on it. "Place your hand upon the Bible," she instructed, her eyes gripping the crowd. Obliging, Mikael placed his hand firmly upon it, and as he did, Haniel spoke again. "Are you aware that you could potentially lose your immortality under demonic attacks, and if you were to break this sacred oath, you would be liable to be judged and either executed or imprisoned?"

"I understand."

"With that, we welcome you into our defense forces as a cooperative alongside Miss Abira Lee," Gabriel boomed. The clapping in the room was deafening, but I heartily joined in. It honestly did feel good to have someone of the same species hunting alongside me. As Mikael approached me, he smiled deeply.

"Welcome to the team, partner," I laughed. "I must ask- why the sudden change in heart?"

"If anything, that battle taught me how dire the situation really is. Those demons were more brutal than Niklaus could ever be. So, time to shift my focus."

Seemed reasonable. I smiled again. "Then I hope you're ready to leave New Orleans. We ship out to our San Antonio HQ next year. Some more demons are causing trouble in the Great Plains area."

He grinned. "I'm ready."


	15. Author's Note

Author's Note:

Hey guys! I know I haven't been as active on here recently, partly because college now keeps me very busy. Nevertheless, I just wanted to attach some faces to some names for those of you who, like me, enjoy having some visual reference for what the characters look like. If any of you are on WattPad, this will be very similar to the Cast option they have on there.

Abira Lee: Krysten Ritter (AKA the actress who plays Jessica Jones)

Mikael Mikaelson: Sebastian Roché

Balthazar: Chris Hemsworth (Thor)

Haniel: Cate Blanchett

Klaus Mikaelson: Joseph Morgan

Elijah Mikaelson: Daniel Gillies

Hayley Marshall: Phoebe Tonkin

Marcel Gerard: Charles Michael Davis


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